12,503. I MAY HAVE TO GO AT THIS ALONE

I MAY HAVE TO GO

AT THIS ALONE
('every man a king')

I've always liked those

pre-made stickers, the kind

you get at the country fairs

down south. They stick on

anything, and in 30 minutes

they turn into clown faces,

and in another hour begin

to talk. They're like 50 cents

now. We used to stick them 

on the parking lot cars and

walk away  -  two hours later,

you should have heard the chatter,

and all the people returning to

their cars would start freaking

out. But their kids all loved it.

-

I always figured it to be like

southern schooling, or the way

those one-room rural schoolhouses

used to operate  -  one large area,

with everyone sitting around, all

different levels, in one big room.

All the teachers could ever do was

pretend to have control, but they

never did have any  -  and the place 

was all a pandemonium with a nice 

southern drawl. And clown faces all.